1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a display device, and more particularly, to a display device with thin profile and good exterior appearance.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Various display devices, which substitute for Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) manufactured in an early stage of display device, have been researched and studied, for example, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) device, Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Organic Light Emitting Display (OLED) device, and etc.
These display devices enable to achieve large size by decreasing weight and volume. Also, these display devices have been highly developed in various aspects such as response speed and picture quality through the continuous study.
In addition to the research and development in technical aspects, design aspects of a product that can appeal to consumers have been actively researched and studied. For example, efforts to minimize a thickness of a display device have been made, and a design enabling the good exterior appearance has been developed to expedite purchase of consumers by appealing to aesthetic sense of the consumers.
However, the related art display device obtained up to now has limitation in minimization of thickness and improvement of exterior appearance due to its structural properties. Hereinafter, limitation of the related art display device will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the related art display device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the related art display device includes a display panel 10, a panel driver 20, and an exterior case 30.
The display panel 10 includes a lower substrate 12 and an upper substrate 14.
On the lower substrate 12, there are gate and data lines crossing each other to define a pixel region. At a crossing portion of the gate and data lines, there is a thin film transistor. Also, a pixel electrode connected with the thin film transistor is formed in the pixel region.
The upper substrate 14 is located over the lower substrate 12. In this case, a predetermined portion of a peripheral region of the lower substrate 12 has to be exposed to the external so as to apply a signal to the gate and data lines on the lower substrate 12, whereby the upper substrate 14 is not located over the predetermined portion of the peripheral region of the lower substrate 12.
The panel driver 20 is formed in the predetermined portion of the peripheral region of the lower substrate 12 exposed to the external, to thereby transmit the signal to the gate and data lines.
The exterior case 30 covers peripheral regions of the display panel 10. As mentioned above, since the panel driver 20 is formed in the predetermined portion of the peripheral region of the lower substrate 12, it is necessary to prevent the panel driver 20 from being exposed to the external. To this end, the exterior case 30 is applied thereto.
Accordingly, the exterior case 30 covers the peripheral regions of the display panel 10 so as to prevent the panel driver 20 from being exposed to the external. The structure might cause the following problems.
First, the exterior case 30 is formed above the upper substrate 14, whereby a thickness of the display device is increased.
Also, the exterior case 30 protruding above the upper substrate 14 causes a height difference on a front surface of the display device, thereby deteriorating the exterior appearance of the display device.
Also, a width of bezel in the display device is increased due to the exterior case 30, thereby causing the deteriorated exterior appearance of the display device.